Good morning, everyone. We begin with an update from doctor levine. Good morning, i would like you to refer to my little placard here just to give you the beginning of the update. I have been told i need to stick close to the microphone. Each bar represents cumulative number of cases on a given day in the past month. The portion represents the newest cases. I think just eyeballing this everyone can see this does not represent linear growth. This is termed exponential growth. We dont yet know what the days to come hold but we can anticipate everything will get higher. It was only two weeks ago we had one case, we have you nexus of 100 now. 123 to be exact. The last day on this graph is the 20 third. In my hand i have the most updated data that came after midnight last night, 123, the blue portion is 28 new cases. The appearance of the graph is more important than the numbers. The other perspective is it has only been about two weeks we have been involved with coronavirus at this level in vermont. In that period of time we have experienced eight deaths. Six of the death are associated with the outbreak at the burlington rehabilitation facility. To be fair these, every single one a tragedy in itself but most of the deaths were in individuals who were very medically complex, may have had advanced dementia, did not have goals of care that would indicate they would be going to hospital for a full resuscitative effort. Nonetheless were it not for coronavirus they would still be with us. Two of the deaths out of the eight were not involved in that facility. What we are finding are characteristics of the impact of this virus worldwide and nationwide affecting those who are older and have other compromised immune conditions. Im very concerned about the slope of that curve and very concerned in our small state about the number of deaths we have had. If we look at the experience regarding deaths around the world you will find that in the countries that have been hardest hit which included leanne spain, the line is vertical in this direction. That indicates rate of the doubling of deaths every couple of days in those countries. There are now states in the United States that show the same trend. New york, new jersey, louisiana was added to that. Louisiana two weeks ago had its first case, 7 times the size of vermont population wise and has 1000 cases and their death rate as i mentioned accelerated very rapidly with doubling time of a few days. The state of washington, which we use as our index case has a more diagonal slope. Still not wonderful but the death rate doubling every week. We in vermont, giving you this for perspective, want to make sure the process of exponential growth in terms of number of cases looking into the future at the right time and that we dont mirror some of those death rate curves where things are getting very rapid. This is why i view this as the perfect time for the governors latest mitigation strategy, emergency border talked about further in this conference. I want to talk about expectations now that we are implementing the stay home stay safe policy. What will happen, what we might expect. Many press conferences have the 80 rule which is still true, that 80 of those who get this virus are not going to be hospitalized, not going to be in icu, certainly will remain alive and may have mild to moderate illness. Stay at home, isolated. In the setting of a largescale outbreak as we are seeing in a number of other states and countries you have to realize also though that not everyone is going to be in the union that 80 category and there are people in the 204050 age group who may get sick, much sicker than we would have advertised and we are finding worldwide that some of the deaths fall in those categories. Im not saying this to be scaring anybody, but at the same time we have to be realistic. In a largescale outbreak, if you have 100,000 people that are sick, 20 of them made the younger that are hospitalized just because of sheer numbers. But we still know the likelihood of a very bad outcome in people who are younger is very low. Likelihood of a bad outcome as you get into 70s, 80s and above it becomes much much higher. We know this will be a great hardship for people. We know this is unprecedented. We also know this is scientifically sound but hard. And we know that given the magnitude of the impact it is challenging. This is a major lifestyle change for all of us to experience but one thing we do know the magnitude of the impact if nothing is done and i can assure you that the impact of what we are going to do will lead to a more favorable end result than if we had done nothing at all. Everyone in the country is asking how long do these things have to go on. Is two weeks and of . Will we be open by easter . Is three weeks enough . Should it be three months . I wish i had a crystalclear answer for you. We dont have those answers, not as a National Community or a Global Community as we are learning all the time. We do know that we want to make sure we want to suppress the virus were not as many will be ill, not as many will be in the position of overwhelming our Healthcare System and its resources and those are the goals we have, not the we will prevent everyone from getting this virus ever in their lifetime. That is not how it will work. Although there are questions we need to realize we need to all be in, all in, be helpful as we see others join this effort, that we will have more regional and even nationally Coherent Community kind of response to this which has worked well in other nations. We need to continue to learn from other countries and almost feel grateful for the fact that the United States came a little later in the game for coronavirus and on a statewide basis states are having activity at different levels. As we go through this period of time that we face stay home and stay safe, will benefit from studying our own statistics as we will every day, studying the statistics we find in the world where various strategies are being tried for various durations of time. It has become an expectation in the Scientific Community that we will flatten that curve as we have talked about before and there will be a period of time we hopefully we will have suppress the viral activity in the community but it may resurface again whether that is two month later or six months or a year later is really unclear. The population at that time will have more immunity amongst itself, it will be harder to pass the virus from persontoperson because many will have artie been exposed and have some immunity and we want to get on top of that with more traditional case tracing, testing and isolation methods much faster than the country did originally. That will be a very good thing for us all. Summary, the strategy is a wise one, scientifically sound, has some element of mystery to it in terms of not being able to tell you exactly what will happen on a given day and when but it will work and it will work best if it takes a Village Mentality to work altogether. Thank you, doctor levine. I know these are not be the times, theres a lot of economic uncertainty, concern about the health due to the covid19 pandemic. I share the concern in both of these areas. As we look at the challenges ahead, Public SafetyMust Come First which is why yesterday, i issued the stay at home stay safe order. Around the country in new york in vermont we have seen increasing cases which continue to grow. This is not unexpected. Each step we have taken is needed, they have been difficult decisions to make and mrs. A responsibility i do not take lightly. Here is what i want you to know, this is what i need from them. Doing so will save lives, just that simple. It doesnt mean you cant go out for essential needs or take your dog for a walk or take your crosscountry skis out but keep your distance from others while doing so. We must do our part to slowly spread of this daily virus and protect the vulnerable which includes the elderly with underlying chronic conditions. We must also do this to prevent the Healthcare System from being overwhelmed which is important to the health and safety of all vermonters. I fully recognize the emotional, financial and Economic Impact this order will have. Based on the best science and the guidance of our health commissioner, each of the actions we have taken are absolutely necessary and it is possible, as a forewarning, more may be needed. The order i signed beginning at 5 00 pm today, vermonters need to stay home as much as possible. We understand their basic needs, you can leave for essential things like go to the grocery store, pharmacy or to seek medical care or just get out and get fresh air and exercise. When doing so it is important to keep six feet from others. Wash your hands a lot, cough or sneeze in your elbow. If you are unsure about something with you should be doing it or not, air on the side of Public Health and stay home. This order directs businesses and nonprofits to suspend all in person Business Operations. This is on top of the closures i have already directed and the requirement that anyone can work from home should do so. These steps are important to slow the spread, there are also things to stay healthy and safe and keep the state running. We included exemptions for businesses that are critical, Public Health and safety and economic and National Security like Healthcare Options and operations in things like grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, hardware stores, critical manufacturing sectors, news media operations, those who serve vulnerable populations and services needed to maintain Critical Infrastructure and transportation. These groups should be implementing the work from home policies i directed earlier this week wherever possible and making sure social distancing, constantly cleaning, washing hands a lot. Small Business Owners have shown great creativity and flexibility, so services can be offered online, an employer can get product and customers with Curbside Pickup or delivery or contact can be avoided that can be continued. Businesses can determine what is successful under this provision. I understand there is a lot to absorb here and there will be a lot of confusion. There are going to be many different scenarios where businesses and employees will have a lot of questions. We will work through these together, but everyone should be erring on the side of Public Health. We need people to keep their distance from each other which is why this order is one of the strongest in the nation. To put this into perspective, for those who think we are going too far, this virus is spreading quickly. It may not have affected you yet but ill too soon many of us will know someone personally and then it will start to feel very real. This is why we are asking our businesses to think beyond the next month. We all care about the health of our employees, family and friends, the steps we are taking are all about protecting our loved ones. Today we will also be announcing in coordination with amtrak and partner states, vermont will suspend Service Beginning tomorrow. Or information coming out later today. Due to the recent snowstorm and the accumulation we received in consultation, close the Trail Network this season beginning today. It is important to remember if we follow stay at home measures closely we can get through this quicker and more safely and get on with our daily lives and then we can get our economy moving again. I have tremendous faith in vermonters and their ability to follow this order, to save lives and support each other in this time of need. It is our turn to face a once in a century challenge and i know vermonters are up for it because we are vermont strong. We will get through this, we will do it to gather. The secretary of commerce. Good morning. I would like to start by saying we fully recognize how hard the last few weeks have been on businesses, employees and all vermonters, we hear you and we will continue to keep you informed with daily updates and guidance and provide answers to your questions. We will continue that effort each and every day moving forward knowing full well that days and weeks ahead will bring more pressure to the economic fidelity of our business and people. I want to stress the best thing to do with our Business Community is get through this crisis quickly. That can only happen if we put the health and safety of vermonters first. That means making some tough decisions and complying with this executive order as swiftly as possible. These are difficult steps to take but we believe these measures will slow the spread, flatten the curve and save lives and ultimately allow vermonters to get back to business faster. I want to clarify what this order means. The governor has directed all in person Business Operations to suspend unless you are deemed essential to the covid19 response or National Security. Companies that can move all or part of their businesses to remote operations can continue to operate those parts of their business. Is this is the cannot transition to remote operations shall suspend those functions. Businesses can make their case to a ccd using an online form as to why there in person functions should be considered essential to the response or National Security. There has been some confusion about the word essential. The definition of essential is only pertinent if your Business Operations require in person transactions. As for restaurants this order does not change the directive the governor has already given. You may continue to provide takeout, curbside and delivery. There are a lot of businesses looking for clarity. The a ccd is working to address the guidance around those inbound questions. We will be responding to each and every request that comes to our online form, filling that out is the best way to get in the queue. Please refrain from reaching out individuals for the flow of our work to stay organized. The form can be found on the accd website, accd. Org. Gov. The team will post guidance today. This will clarify many questions but if there is more clarity needed or you want to make a Business Case why youre in person business is essential go to our website and fill out that form. It is called continue of operations form. We want to keep vermont businesses informed of the latest developer and as they happen and we hope businesses first visit our website which is updated daily and also sign up for our newsletter which will put the information you need into your inbox. Again we know this is creating incredible challenges for Business Owners and vermonters that they employ but we recognize the Public Health crisis we are facing and we must take these measures to ensure that the vermont economy emerges from this. I would like to turn it over to congressman wells who will give an update on vermonts congressional delegation. Thank you very much for your strong leadership. We have one mission and that mission is to protect Public Health and restore the economy. Protect Public Health and restore the economy. The approach the governor outlined, doing more now is far preferable to doing more later. The approach we have to take in order to save the economy is air on the side of doing too much too soon rather than doing too little too late. To be successful, all of us have to be in this together as Governor Scott said. Each of us as citizens, to care for the people we love and neighbors we value and respect have to keep our social distance to wash our hands, subscribe to Public Health advice. Your State Government works for you, for all vermonters. Your federal Government Works for you, all vermonters and we have to work in coordination in order to be successful in achieving those goals, protecting the Public Health and reviving the economy. Governor scott has the responsibility of making the decisions about steps to protect Public Health. His partners in washington, senator leahy, senator sanders and me, have the responsibility to work with the governor and vermonters to take the economic steps to help us get through this and get to the other side. There is a division of labor, but there is a single single mission. There have been three bills, two bills that have been passed, and one that is being considered. The first bill when this started, 8. 3 billion, that was a big number back then, it was to get some money to our frontline providers, and provide increased Unemployment Insurance and that has been helpful. The second bill that we passed recently was 100 billion for increased unemployment, also to assist our Healthcare Providers with medicaid reimbursement and supplement on nutrition for kids that are getting their meals and seniors who depend on these meals. The third bill is right now being negotiated. Senator leahy in the senate, senator leahys state director john tracy, thank you for being here. This is extraordinary, it is a 2 trillion economic aid package that is necessary and there are many details to be worked out but the contours give me some real optimism that republicans and democrats will come together to get that aid to Small Businesses and our state. Let me outline what the contours of that bill are, it makes a big difference. One for individuals. We are going to change the unemployment schedule. Unemployment is a little over 500. We would add 600 to that have no expense to the state and no damage to the employer for the additional that would last for four months at least so individuals would be able to get up to 1,100 or more for four months because they had to comply with social distancing decision that is being made. Second that unemployment will apply not just to folks getting weekly paycheck, but individuals who are selfemployed based on last years income and independent contractors, uber drivers, the unemployment system has not helped in the past, it has to help them this time so that is something that theres a good likelihood we could get that, agreement between republicans and democrats. Next, small business. We know that in this state many people, most of us work for Small Businesses and those businesses are like family and they want to keep folks on but have no revenue coming in so theres going to be roughly 400 billion in emergency grants, loans, and loan forgiveness can be applied to rents and mortgages, utilities, it can provide retention tax credit for those who want to keep their employees on and pay 80 of the wages. The goal is to help Small Businesses through this time when the lights are off so that when the lights go back on they are still in a position to get back to business and get folks back to work. The hospitals another component. Our hospitals have taken a huge revenue hit because they stop elective surgeries, that is the difference between reading and black ink for all the hospitals that are vital to addressing this challenge, but also Economic Health and wellbeing of our citizens. Most of us believe it should be a down payment because hospitals will need more and there is state aid. The governor explained the revenue impact to vermont and other states as a result of responding to this and it hits on two sides, the revenue side and the suspense side. We believe it should be the responsibility of the federal government to be the one that bears the burden and not transferred to the state or local taxpayer. In the current legislation there appears to be significant progress in the senate, thank you, senator leahy for the leading role in the Appropriations Committee as lead negotiator, were focusing on aid to the state of vermont, aid to individuals and aid to the hospitals. We are only beginning. What we have to never stop doing is working together. The federal government has to be a partner handinhand with the state, and the state and federal government have to be working for you. For individuals who ultimately are bearing the burden of the challenge we face. I can speak for the congressional delegation, Bernie Patrick and i will be here for you and Work Together every day, every way we can to help you get through this. We are very fortunate in vermont working on behalf of all vermonters but i will say senator leahy calls me not long after 7 am when i was at the office and he had a late night going past 1 00 pm, he wanted to call and let me know they agreed on something so give us some comfort. I appreciate that. With that we will open up for questions. I will call on you and remember we start this. Mike donahue, Vermont Press association. Moveon to sean cunningham. On monday it was announced there will be medical centers, can you speak to the districts plans for such facilities in the south, what they are looking for in terms of facilities and when those would be expected to be online. I will have commissioner shirley respond to that. We are working with Hospital Association to deploy plans statewide. We dont have the specifics but we will prepare multiple layers of capacities, the multilayer strategy will be beef be deployed over the next couple weeks. As more information becomes available we will share that of note, the clinical guidance we get relative to what is needed is one of the most important things. Is this evil sent more information becomes available, physicians and hospitals help to determine where the sites go and they get deployed. 6 to unmute. Businesses that stay open that are not essential. Back to commissioner shirley. As governors indicated vermonters are coming together to see the orders issued to date, the same with the additional order yesterday, and issue guidance to municipalities, suggest guidance will take the form of education, it is largely a selfregulating event but there are potentials for penalties as you violate executive order and other things could happen, if a restaurant opens, there are Health Department implications at risk for putting Public Health at risk but i believe education and voluntary compliance is the key as vermonters come together during this time. I also want to say we have a great response from vermonters on this on the first round, bars and restaurants but had to close and it was difficult for them but they have used their creativity and imagination and done so willingly, understanding the mission we are facing. Can you hear me . I am wondering what if anything you can do to place a moratorium on your. I am thinking people cant make money but still have bills to pay. Thank you very much. Yes. You can expect something over the next day or so giving guidance on that. We are working amongst ourselves with the legislative, legislator as well in this process. You can expect something in the next day or so on that issue. What are you hearing . Related by easter. I can only tell you from my standpoint, that is a bit overoptimistic to say the least. This is going to take weeks and months and this is going to be difficult. We will let the science and the data drive our decisionmaking and we will do what is appropriate for vermont but in my personal view this is going to take longer than easter to overcome. These are up about an hour. Can you stop people when they travel or outcomes . You have seen an increase in visibility of Law Enforcement. That is by design during this time. The presence of someone out and about does not create the lawful ability to create a stop whether in a Motor Vehicle or a person walking. There are legitimate reasons for people to be moving around. That will be part of the guidance we give the Law Enforcement organization. Times 6. All right. Stan galloway, vt diggers. 6, and galloway, dc digger. We will go calvin in the room. What circumstances, what is the penalty . Relative to folks that are out and about the criminal overlay hasnt changed, the Law Enforcement officer would need reasonable grounds the person committed a crime. Being out and about does not create a nexus of the executive order so the two things dont directly connect. You would have to have something else. In terms of the second part of the question we are working on encouragement and education. We have seen no abuse of that so far. We will continue down that path until we find it necessary to do otherwise but encouragement and education for others to do the right thing. There trying to provide that education ourselves to the magnitude of the issue. Williams, vcr. You mentioned you might be considering more stringent measures. Im wondering what a stronger measure would look like in the situation you would find necessary. When you look at other countries, some of their measures, i am not contemplating, fear to general public, the numbers continue to increase and they were not bending the curve. Bending the curve is not instantaneous. We will not result of the actions we are taken today, bending the curve, it will take time for that to happen. We will watch the trends and continue to rely on the best science available to us from our mpt man doctor levine, and continue to make changes as we see necessary. We are in hopes this will have the effect and if it does not, i want to forewarn everyone not to give false hope. And to bend this curve and prevent the Healthcare System from being overwhelmed. What is outlined in my initial remarks, will be helpful but if we see there is no change, will take more measures. Can you hear me okay . I wondered about the update on hospital readiness. The situation is coming along to be stood up in the next few days. Mike smith, to give you hospital beds, availability, 575 total beds, ventilators. And 8000 surgical mass, and 19 people with covid19 in various hospitals across the state, 17 are waiting and suspected of having thune. Have not had that the term is patient under investigation. The numbers i gave you are not enough as we are looking at the search here, looking at what doctor levine showed on his chart, at a minimum, weve got to double all the numbers i just gave you in terms of ventilators available, those sort of things as we look at where the trend lines are going. As we look at surge capacity, in terms of setting up these additional sites. We have to look at layering planning, or best case, and doubling what i just told you. As we mentioned earlier, the search site is happening and planning continues. We are sourcing ventilators and ppe, hospitals and facilities, supply chains as fast as possible, the state is happening to supplement those supply chain so we bought millions of dollars in ventilators in the past few days with 202 inbound for vermont, timelines for delivery are not known yet, the same with ppe. As many as we can find we are buying, folks have been asking how many we need, as many as we can get a hold of. We are buying them as fast as possible. In terms of the Search Capacity we did a report, sites being set up by the national guard. As a reminder in burlington, 150, saint allens, theres 250 right there. The eight sites we identified, will meet the capacities that we need. Have you heard in vermont and what is evolving from that . Really glad you asked me that so we can advertise what you said. Early symptoms before you feel sick is lack of sense of smell. Is so early i cant say it has been confirmed by multiple investigators but it is worthy of note and people should think about it if that happens to them that perhaps it is an early sign of coronavirus. Ive not heard anyone in vermont mentioned that as their chief complaint but im not aware of everyone who has had a chief complaint in vermont so they might have. Michelle munro, saint august messenger. Michelle . Andrew mcgregor. Thank you. You mentioned beds, ventilators and ppes. Is that an upward projection . And topoftheline numbers in a timeframe. We are working on projections updated daily based on what we are seeing on a daily basis here. Right now we are looking we are going